The alleged practice was made known to the public last month after a TV station aired reports on female feticides.
Health authorities in India have promised to punish whoever is found guilty of the crime. "The guilty would not be spared and I have asked all the district officials to monitor if any sex-determination tests are being carried out in their area." The minister of health said in a BBC interview. All the doctors have rejected the charges claiming they are innocent.
Security forces in Rajasthan have filed several cases against 21 doctors under India's Pre-Natal Detection Technic Act (PNDT). This Act makes selective abortion illegal.
Latest census figures depict that Rajasthan has 922 females per 1,000 males. This shows a sharp decline in women to men ratio which Indians believe could be suspicious.
In March, a doctor and his assistant were sentenced for two years after they revealed the sex of a fetus before deciding to abort it.
Civil rights groups have expressed their preference for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to handle the investigations. "The police case is just an eye wash to delay the investigation. We don't have faith in the state agency. We want the CBI to investigate the scandal," Kavita Srivastva a civil rights group leader said.
